Graham Pollard
Henry Graham Pollard | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Putney, London, England |
| Died | November 15, 1976 (aged 73) |
| Occupation(s) | Bookseller, bibliographer, civil servant, academic |
| Known for | Bibliographical studies, book collecting, presidency of the London Bibliographical Society |
Henry Graham Pollard (7 March 1903 – 15 November 1976) was a notable British bookseller and expert in bibliography.
Early life
Born in Putney, London, Pollard was the son of the historian Albert Pollard. He attended Shrewsbury School before enrolling at University College London to study history for one year. In 1921, he secured a scholarship to Jesus College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1924 with a third-class degree. During his time at Oxford, he became a member of the Hypocrites' Club. In the same year, he married Kay Beauchamp, an early Communist and advocate for women's rights; their marriage lasted until 1972.
Career
Pollard developed a reputation as a book collector while still a student and eventually took over part of the London book dealership Birrell and Garnett, becoming managing director in 1927. The firm was responsible for producing influential catalogues throughout the 1920s and 1930s, some of which became essential reference works. He contributed to the Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature and co-wrote An Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets (1934) alongside John Carter, which revealed the fraudulent activities of book collector Thomas J. Wise.
In 1937, Pollard joined forces with Harry Carter, Ellic Howe, Alfred F. Johnson, and Stanley Morison to assemble a comprehensive list of all known type specimens from before 1800. This work was published in The Library in 1942, despite wartime restrictions that limited access to European libraries.
Following the dissolution of Birrell and Garnett in 1939, Pollard took up a lecturing position at University College London. In 1942, he began working for the Board of Trade, where he remained until his retirement in 1959. Throughout this period, he continued his bibliographical studies, including editing John Pendred's The Earliest Directory of the Book Trade (1785), and also lectured at Cambridge.
Between 1960 and 1961, Pollard delivered the prestigious Lyell Readership in Bibliography at Oxford on the topic "The Medieval Book Trade in Oxford." He served as president of the London Bibliographical Society from 1960 to 1962 and was awarded its gold medal in 1969. In 1973, he gave lectures in the United States, and in 1975, the Oxford Bibliographical Society published a collection of essays honoring his work. Pollard passed away at the Radcliffe Infirmary on 15 November 1976.
His legacy is celebrated annually through the "Graham Pollard Memorial Lecture," with the 2025 lecture titled "The Stationers and the Poor Law."
In 2018, allegations emerged that Pollard had acted as an informant on the Communist Party for British intelligence under Maxwell Knight.